75 Facts About James Scullin

James Henry Scullin was an Australian politician and trade unionist who served as the ninth prime minister of Australia from 1929 to 1932.

James Scullin held office as the leader of the Australian Labor Party, having briefly served as treasurer of Australia during his time in office from 1930 to 1931.

James Scullin was the first Catholic, as well as the first Irish-Australian, to serve as prime minister.

The son of working-class Irish-immigrants, James Scullin spent much of his early life as a laborer and grocer in Ballarat.

James Scullin joined the Australian Labor Party in 1903, beginning a career spanning five decades.

James Scullin was a political organizer and newspaper editor for the party, and was elected to the Australian House of Representatives first in 1910 and then again in 1922 until 1949.

James Scullin quickly established himself as a leading voice in parliament, rapidly rising to become deputy leader of the party in 1927 and then Leader of the Opposition in 1928.

James Scullin would remain party leader for four more years, losing the 1934 election but the party split would not be healed until after James Scullin's return to the backbenches in 1935.

James Scullin became a respected elder voice within the party and leading authority on taxation and government finance, and would eventually play a significant role in reforming both when Labor returned to government in 1941.

James Scullin was born in Trawalla, Victoria on 18 September 1876.

James Scullin's father was a railway labourer, who emigrated to Australia in his 20s.

James Scullin was the fourth of eight children, and grew up in a tight-knit and devoutly Catholic home.

James Scullin attended the Trawalla State School from 1881 to 1887 and earned an early reputation as an active and quick-witted boy, though never physically robust.

The family moved to Mount Rowan, Ballarat, in 1887, and the young James Scullin attended school at Mount Rowan State School until 12.

James Scullin joined a number of societies and was active in the Australian Natives' Association and the Catholic Young Men's Society, eventually becoming president of the latter.

James Scullin was a skilled debater, participating in local competitions and having an association with the Ballarat South Street debating society for nearly 30 years, which would prove formative to his interest and talent in politics.

James Scullin was a devout Roman Catholic, a non-drinker and a non-smoker all his life.

James Scullin became active in politics during his years in Ballarat, being influenced by the ideas of Tom Mann and the growing labour movement in Victoria, as were many of his later ministerial colleagues such as Frank Anstey, John Curtin and Frank Brennan.

James Scullin became a foundation member of his local Political Labor Council in 1903 and was active in local politics thereafter.

James Scullin was a campaigner and political organizer for the Australian Workers' Union, the union movement with which he would remain most closely associated throughout his career.

James Scullin spoke often around Ballarat on political issues and helped with Labor campaigns at state and federal level.

James Scullin was frequently called to assist or stand in for her husband at social occasions when her husband's illness prevented him from attending personally.

James Scullin was an active member of the Labor Party herself, and would remain well-informed on politics.

In 1910 James Scullin won his first election as the Labor candidate in Corangamite, in a year when Labor's Andrew Fisher surged in the polls and formed Australia's first majority government.

James Scullin had done much to personally build the grass-roots organisation of the Labor movement in this seat in the years prior to the election, although its rural character meant it was not considered a seat naturally sympathetic to Labor.

James Scullin's campaign focused on increasing the powers of the Federal parliament and issues such as defending a white Australia, higher import duties and the introduction of a land tax.

In federal parliament, James Scullin quickly earned a reputation as an impressive and formidable parliamentary debater.

James Scullin spoke on a wide range of issues over the three years of his term, but concentrated especially on matters relating to taxation and the powers of the Commonwealth, both of which would become signature issues for Scullin throughout his career.

James Scullin tried and failed to reacquire the seat at the 1918 Corangamite by-election.

James Scullin would hold this position for the next nine years, which solidified his position within the Victorian Labor movement and made him an influential voice within its ranks, being elected president of the Victorian state branch of Labor in 1918.

At the special Labor conference on conscription in 1916, James Scullin moved for the expulsion of the conscriptionists, including Prime Minister Hughes and former prime minister Chris Watson.

James Scullin was fiercely patriotic and critical of the war, particularly Britain's leadership of the dominions within it.

James Scullin handily won Labor preselection over several other candidates, and in February 1922 he took the seat at the ensuing 1922 Yarra by-election with more than three-quarters of the vote.

However his new proximity to the Federal parliament and representation of a safe seat afforded many more political opportunities and freedoms, and soon James Scullin was a prominent figure on the Labor campaign trail and appearing at events around the country.

James Scullin became one of the leading lights of the parliamentary opposition, and was quickly elevated to the Australian Labor Party National Executive in February 1923.

James Scullin was an able debater and parliamentary performer, but carved out a niche as a leading voice on several issues, particularly taxation and economic policy.

In March 1927 James Scullin became the parliamentary ALP's deputy leader.

James Scullin accused the government of spending too much, borrowing too much from overseas sources, and not rectifying a worrying excess of imports over exports: a three-part recipe for disaster.

James Scullin was well received and made ground in these areas, as well as in rural districts to counteract the increasingly urban nature of Labor.

Amidst a background of industrial strife and heavy handed government proposals to deal with it, James Scullin, who preached conciliation and negotiation between the parties, seemed the moderate choice, despite the more radical stances otherwise held by Labor.

The party was jubilant and James Scullin enthusiastically accepted commission to become prime minister.

James Scullin was to be Australia's first Catholic prime minister.

James Scullin came to Canberra amid rapturous applause from his supporters and the largest majority that Labor had ever won at the time.

James Scullin chose not to take residence in The Lodge, which had only been completed two years prior, citing its unnecessary extravagance and cost to the taxpayer.

In 1929, the James Scullin government established the Canberra University College.

James Scullin's government faced significant limitations on its power to implement its response to the economic crisis.

James Scullin had to contend with a financial establishment in Australia and in the United Kingdom that was firmly opposed to any deviation from orthodox economics in responding to the Great Depression.

James Scullin was sympathetic, but refused to go beyond negotiations and inducements to end the disputes.

James Scullin made major proposals to change the constitutional amendment process; expand Commonwealth powers over commerce, trade and industry; and to break apart the Commonwealth Bank to separate out its reserve bank and trading bank functions.

James Scullin took over the Treasury portfolio in the interim while Theodore went to Queensland to face charges, and was compelled to bring down the 1930 budget personally.

James Scullin succeeded in having King George V appoint Sir Isaac Isaacs as the first Australian-born Governor-General of Australia, despite the King's personal opposition and the strong objections of both the British establishment and the conservative opposition in Australia, who attacked the appointment as tantamount to republicanism.

In regular contact with Fenton and Lyons in London through the awkward means of cables, James Scullin felt he had no choice but to agree to the recommendations of economic advisers, supported by Lyons and Fenton, that government spending be heavily cut, despite the suffering this caused and the disillusionment of the Labor party's base, whom were most affected by these cuts.

At the first meeting of cabinet upon his return, James Scullin made things worse by reappointing Theodore as treasurer, despite his name not having been yet cleared over the Mungana Affair.

James Scullin refused, instead planning to pay for the plan through the expanding the note issue.

James Scullin was reduced to a minority government of just 35 members, depending on the Lang faction to stay in power.

James Scullin ardently defend the program, but Lang's influence as an alternative opinion leader of Labor was growing, now with state branches in Victoria and South Australia rebelling against the Premiers' Plan.

However, James Scullin was not held responsible for the debacle and stayed on as Labor leader.

James Scullin won much praise for his performance as Opposition Leader, as he had before coming prime minister.

James Scullin markedly declined in vigor for his role as Opposition Leader after he was reconfirmed in it after the 1934 election.

Bedridden several times, James Scullin tendered his resignation on 23 September 1935, citing a physical inability to continue as leader.

James Scullin was succeeded by John Curtin, who proved a necessary salve to Labor wounds.

James Scullin was a passionate advocate for Australian arts, and with the Fellowship of Australian Writers, was responsible for a dramatic boost to the Commonwealth Literary Fund's budget in 1939.

James Scullin took no portfolio nor played any part in military strategy or much of the overall war effort, except where finance was concerned.

James Scullin was a leading voice in caucus in support of the new PM, urging it to give Curtin the powers to run his own government without the caucus interference James Scullin himself had so frequently fallen afoul of a decade earlier.

James Scullin continued to be a leading voice in the movement in favour of further social welfare plans and was influential within the party in the nature and direction these took.

Ill-health continued to return in bouts, but James Scullin remained active if subdued in parliament after Curtin's death and Chifley's succession in 1945.

James Scullin continued to be influential in fiscal and taxation matters, and the impact of his experience was still occasionally felt in Chifley-era legislation.

James Scullin was frequently bedridden in these last 18 months, and unable to attend many gatherings.

James Scullin's condition deteriorated further after retirement, suffering cardio-renal failure in 1951 and becoming almost permanently bedridden and under the care of his wife.

James Scullin died in his sleep on 28 January 1953 in Hawthorn, Melbourne from complications arising from pulmonary edema.

James Scullin was accorded a state funeral in St Patrick's Cathedral, Melbourne with a Requiem Mass presided over by Archbishop Daniel Mannix.

James Scullin was buried in the Catholic section of Melbourne General Cemetery.

James Scullin had defended his record in government throughout his later career, and took pride in having been prime minister in times which might have broken a lesser figure.

The Economist admitted after the 1931 election that James Scullin "had already done much to place Australia on the high road to recovery".

James Scullin's resignation as leader in 1935 caused even longtime critic Jack Beasley to admit that Scullin was "a fearless fighter in the exposition of what he believes to be the right course".